Proud “Baby Mama” Tina Fey

If it seems like Tina Fey is everywhere these days, well, it’s probably because she kind ofis. Last week, she graced the cover of VanityFair to refutethose ridiculous “Women Aren’t Funny” claims. This past Sunday,she was smiling up from your Parade magazine, cute as fresh-picked daisies.And, very soon, she’ll be delivering the funny in a theater near youwith Baby Mama.

A new featurette for Tina and Amy Poehler’s odd-couple comedy hit the web recently, and the moreI see, the more I can’t wait until April 25. The two-minute spot interspersesclips from the trailer with Tina and Amy talking about the film.

The two women play polar oppositeswho come together when white-collar Kate (Tina) hires working-classAngie (Amy) to be her surrogate. What ensures is what Tina calls “asclose as you can get to seeing me and Amy in a movie version of Laverne& Shirley.”

Really, if you think aboutit, aside from those delightful schlemiel, schlimazel gals, the femalebuddy comedy is a rarity indeed. At this point, someone is probably goingto bring up Thelma & Louise, but I’d argue that any moviethat ends with our heroines taking gravity’s elevator to the groundfloor of the Grand Canyon should, at the very least, be labeled a dramedy.

In her Parade cover story, Fey talked about what drewher to the film. The 37-year-old said theidea that women can have it all informed the film’s humor. Ever thefunny feminist (no, that’s not an oxymoron), Tina recalls the exhilarationof growing up in the Title IX generation:

“We’re going tosign you up for coed baseball, and you’re going to play basketball …”It was a good time to be a girl. You know, watching The Bad NewsBears — it was takeover time.

Just as deep-seated are Tina’scomedy roots. At the tender age of 7, she drew a picture of people holdinghands and carrying wedges of Swiss cheese that read: “What a friendwe have in cheeses.” Oh, man, that’s still good, even 30 years later.

The Parade story also comeswith a quiz that asks, “Are you a Tina Fey fan?” While I don’t want tobe immodest about my Tina Fey obsession prowess,let’s just say I scored in the 11–15 range, which is lovingly describedas “Your obsession with Tina Fey is unrivaled.”

Though, really, when she saysstuff like this, how could your love for all things Fey not be unrivaled?

I think for womenespecially, you need to have a plan. I need to have some other waysto generate income, so I don’t have to stretch my face or lift thetop of my head with surgery or something … I often feel like a completefool. I’m here laboring over this tiny show so much, and around mepeople are making money by the fistful. It’s like, ‘Oh, man, howcan I turn my personality into a line of crappy products?’ RachaelRay sells, like, spoons. I could sell pencils.